With our record-breaking kindergarten enrollment for next year the issue of school capacity and boundary changes has leaped back into the limelight. Here’s my take on it.<\/p>\n
White Oaks is the District’s smallest school, in terms of acreage, and it has essentially no ability to add new classrooms, either portables or newly-constructed ones. It also serves the area with the most school-age children per home. While it\u2019s true that White Oaks enrolled 80 kindergarteners in certain recent years, the \u201creal\u201d long-term capacity of the school is closer to 70. The additional enrollment was made possible only because grades 1 through 4 were, at the time, a little smaller than average. That\u2019s not something that can be counted on in any given year.<\/p>\n
The Board has discussed enrollment patterns and possible boundary changes for a couple of years (I serve on a subcommittee specifically charged to look into the situation and make recommendations to the full Board). My sense is there was a general feeling among the trustees that some boundary shifts would have to take place. However, the only specific proposal to be considered and approved moved an area where families could choose to go to either Arundel or Heather to be part of Heather\u2019s service area. This year\u2019s dramatic surge in kindergarten enrollment has probably strengthened the feeling that we need to do something.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d summarize the parameters we\u2019re dealing with as follows:<\/p>\n
When you put these factors together you\u2019re driven to look at adjustments which reduce the size of White Oaks\u2019 service area and increase Heather\u2019s, without increasing or decreasing Brittan Acre\u2019s or Arundel\u2019s. That leads to two categories of alternatives:<\/p>\n
Of course, boundary changes don\u2019t address the overall increase in enrollment the District is experiencing. To handle that, you have to add capacity in one or more places, either through portables or new construction. But given the size of the various school sites, little if any of the additional capacity could be put at White Oaks. There simply isn\u2019t room.<\/p>\n
All the trustees and the superintendent appreciate that boundary changes are difficult for families. That\u2019s why they\u2019re avoided whenever possible. But in our situation I don\u2019t think that\u2019s possible any longer (we\u2019ve been dancing with this for five or more years now, but the problem persists). Historically, the \u201cjewel streets\u201d in White Oaks\u2019 area have switched back-and-forth between White Oaks and Brittan Acres, so that\u2019s certainly a possible approach. But there could be others, as well (e.g., the streets immediately south of Brittan Avenue). Whatever ends up happening, there will be time for public comment and input before any decisions are made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With our record-breaking kindergarten enrollment for next year the issue of school capacity and boundary changes has leaped back into the limelight. Here’s my take on it. White Oaks is the District’s smallest school, in terms of acreage, and it … Continue reading